MindBullets is a part of the global FutureWorld Network, constantly sensitive to changes in the technological, economic, social, political and business landscape.
The MindBullets Contributors scan this rapidly changing environment for clues about possible future trends.
The results of this synthesis are combined by our contributors into an on-going series of MindBullets: News from the Future - with a summary emailed to you every Thursday and the complete MindBullets data base available online to explore each scenario in more detail.
Exciting scenarios of alternative futures based on breakthrough thinking today.
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Tycoon's family in feud with his avatar wife's lawyers

Dateline: 1 February 2034

Dr Akihiro Miaku the famous Japanese tycoon who died earlier this year under mysterious circumstances (rumoured poisoning) is back in the headlines, after his will was leaked to the press by a disgruntled, anonymous, family member.
Dr Miaku, who had significant business interests in the Japanese renewable energy sector, was revealed to have left his entire 3 billion Yen (27.5 million USD) fortune to his wife - a hologram nicknamed Suzi.
The eccentric billionaire married his hologram wife 11 ...

Customers dictate the course of business

Dateline: 1 February 2023

Change is inevitable, but many businesses don't like or want change. Not when they're on top, and milking the cash cow; if it's not broke, don't try to fix it! But just because you're making super profits, and your customers adore you, doesn't mean it's going to be that way forever, even if you're Apple or Coca-Cola. Just ask Kodak.
Shareholders and employees like to think it's 'their' business, but it's not much fun running or owning a business with no customers; a bit like a morgue, except that ...

Startups as dissertations are remaking economies

Dateline: 28 March 2025

What students need and what society needs, is not a PhD thesis in the form of 200-400 pages of new analysis, but rather the results of an applied trial in the real business world. It's a no-brainer, right?
You'd think so, but it took hundreds of student protests around the globe and a US$ 3.5 trillion defaulted student loans crisis in the US; but now the world can finally see that startups should be the new dissertations.
In 2018, the Indian Institute of Technology announced that they would ...

Favours increasing state intervention to realize development goals

Dateline: 15 March 2020

"Existing economic theories are incapable of meeting the needs of the future, and we need an economic transition, away from neoclassical economics and market capitalism," said the latest Sustainable Development report. In other words, capitalism and free markets are not good enough to guarantee prosperity for the people of the world. According to the UN.
This position is bound to stir up heated debate from all quarters. No one can argue with the fact that democratic market economies and global trade ...

Quantum hackers make off with billions

Dateline: 14 September 2027

The global crypto community is in an uproar this morning. Overnight a group of hackers, who go by the name of "Gotya," managed to hack into the main Bitcoin blockchain, making off with billions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency in the process.
Gotya appears to have used advanced quantum computing power to break into the blockchain network using what is known as a 'routing attack'. In essence, the hackers managed to temporarily fork the core Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain in order to double-spend coins ...

EU shareholders are selling out - to China

Dateline: 23 April 2023

If you want to exit from a large, EU-based, multinational concern, just sell it to the Chinese. They're buying. Everything.
In the last five years, Chinese acquisitions and investments in Europe have tripled, compared to the previous decade. China's 'economic imperialism' in Africa and Latin America is widely recognized and well documented, but its forays into Europe have been more stealthy.
Published details of deals to acquire or invest in power and logistics, property and football clubs, are ...

Young would-be homebuyers forced to move back in with mom and dad

Dateline: 5 April 2021

It's the moment almost all parents wait for - graduation cap in hand, the chicks finally leave the nest. Spread your wings and fly little birdies, mom and dad think to themselves. It's just a pity that lately the peace and quiet doesn't seem to last long.
Initially it looked like a blip that would pass, but multigenerational households are here to stay, at least for the near future. In fact, one in four Americans now have such a setup at home. Global property prices have ballooned and many a ...

Business that isn't personal doesn't survive the future

Dateline: 24 November 2020

There's a strange problem with stock exchange investing - the primary, and often only, motive is to make money. But we all know that the best businesses, those that flourish, survive the bad times, and outperform the rest in the good times, are businesses that have a real sense of purpose; that resonate with their customers and community.
When Steve Jobs started Apple, it wasn't to seek corporate profits and become a billionaire. No, he wanted to change the world. The profits and riches were a ...

Long term strategy requires short term agility

Dateline: 27 October 2020

It sounds like a contradiction in terms, but short is the new long, and long is the new short. Effective executives need to have a long-term perspective, to really think about the future opportunities, as well as the challenges, that exponential change brings to the surface.
But execs equally need to be able to take decisive, short term action, in order to make those long term plans a reality. Once you understand the future, and you've designed your future, you need to create it, and that means ...

Stocks crash as executive orders bite

Dateline: 5 February 2021

US President Bernie Sanders has signed a series of Executive Orders designed as emergency measures to combat climate change. The net effect is to make fossil fuels way too costly to produce and consume, forcing emissions lower and a massive swing to nuclear and renewable power.
On top of that, the plummeting cost of solar has convinced many consumers, even those skeptical about global warming, to switch to a system of distributed power generation and consumption. These micro-grids and rooftop panels ...

Now anyone can put a sputnik into orbit

Dateline: 5 October 2020

Rocket Lab has gone fully commercial, offering launches for small satellites at a tenth of the cost of SpaceX. The 3D printed rockets are less than three stories tall, but they still make it to orbit, in just a few minutes.
It's like Uber for space launches. You book your slot on the app, and get a real-time quote on your phone, which varies with the size and weight of your satellite. Most popular are cubesats, only slightly larger than a smartphone, and controlled by users on the ground.
The ...

New players dominate financial services

Dateline: 26 August 2022

It was Microsoft founder Bill Gates who famously said in 1994 that we need banking, but we don't need banks. It's taken nearly 30 years, but he was dead right.
Worldwide, financial services have moved out of the hands of traditional banks and into an array of mobile, FinTech and data companies. Some forward-thinking banks grasped the new world of collaboration and entered into early partnerships and have survived, albeit in a different form. Others have failed or, at best, become simply the ...

China leads the push for Globalization 2.0

Dateline: 4 July 2035

It's taken two decades, but the demise of the United States as top nation was predicted way back in 2015. Now China is firmly #1 in economic terms, and the west looks decidedly lower-middle class.
The global power shift to the east has been driven partly by demographics, but also by China's determination to expand its sphere of economic influence, and to co-opt key nations en route. Central to this ambition was the 'One Belt, One Road' initiative, which links up dozens of nodes from Guangzhou to ...

New college teaches thinking, learning and unlearning skills

Dateline: 21 September 2018

You've probably heard the old cliché: "By the time you've finished your business course or degree, everything you've learned will be out of date!" Well it's true; even more so, today.
Now there's a new college to tackle this problem: The UnVarsity College. It's got nothing to do with the UN; rather it focuses on a new qualification, the MBL, or Master of Business Learning. It's the business school of tomorrow.
"The problem isn't learning, it's unlearning. In every aspect of business, we are ...

Say goodbye to forex spreads and broker commission

Dateline: 27 July 2019

The new Blockchain Equitable Spread Trading system or BEST has banks and brokers in a tizzy. They've effectively been disintermediated, which is probably what they deserve, for years of fleecing consumers and investors.
Most of us, at one time or another, have had that uncomfortable feeling of chagrin, when faced with a bank or forex dealer's spread of prices. "We buy US dollars at 0.89 euro and sell them at 0.98," might be the typical offering. That's a massive spread profit for simply performing ...

Investment boom in Edinburgh triggers housing shortage

Dateline: 25 June 2020

London, a city which at its peak had almost 8.5 million residents, feels like everyone has gone away for the summer. You can always get a table, even at the trendiest restaurants, and the Tube is only half full.
Over the past three years, as major employers have moved their corporate headquarters, or restructured to keep their European markets, hundreds of thousands have left. Following the loss of the UK's banking passport, Frankfurt and Dublin have emerged as new centres of finance, gaining the ...

Power from nuclear fusion is forever beyond our grasp

Dateline: 12 May 2026

The greatest nuclear fusion experiment, ITER, has been mothballed barely a year after being switched on.
"It's unlikely we'll ever achieve ignition," said the project's acting chief scientist, "and without substantial budget increases, it's not worth doing anything else."
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project was begun in 2006, but took almost 20 years to reach completion, to the point where it could be activated. After decades of delays and cost overruns, there was ...

And Airbnb, iTunes and Netflix are next

Dateline: 5 April 2018

Uber has been taken out by an unexpected competitor - the crowd. It's ironic really, because Uber was the first company to leverage assets it didn't own and didn't control, yet created an eco-system that provided a platform for viral growth; a truly exponential organization.
Now it's been ubered by a crowd-sourced, crowd-funded and crowd-managed system for ride-sharing and joint car ownership. Called Arcade City, it's an Uber-like app-based platform for riders and drivers - but it's owned by the ...

Poll garners 95% turnout and universal support

Dateline: 14 October 2023

The counts are in and President Trump has an overwhelming vote of confidence in his continued leadership. With 95% of Americans voting for the motion, he will compete in his third presidential election in 2024.
Mustapha Junar [ID21394230]*, representative of Citizens for Democracy, claims widespread ballot fraud, but President Trump scoffed at there being any impropriety under his reign.
"Americans have never been happier, even if our economy is still shedding jobs. The results demonstrate that ...

Commodity prices hit 60-year lows as oil halves

Dateline: 4 July 2016

The world is awash with basic commodities, and for many people, prices have not been so low in living memory. It's back to the 1950's in real terms for resources like coal and iron ore; wheat and corn are dirt cheap too.
Fueled by fears of climate change and radical new energy and transport technologies, oil has halved in a year and is now floating around US$ 20 per barrel. Supply continues to exceed demand worldwide, as producers fight for market share.
Global electricity prices have continued ...